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NEWS & STORIES

Long-term development

We work with communities to tackle the causes of poverty through a combination of hands-on expertise, financial investment and education. In addition, we give people a voice to speak out against the laws, actions and policies that keep them in poverty.

These gifts are guaranteed tohelp beat poverty for good by raising vital funds for Oxfam’s work across the world – from development projects that change lives in Rwanda, Tanzania and beyond to saving lives in places like Yemen where millions of people face hunger and disease.

Send your loved ones lots of hogs and kisses this year with the Unwrapped gift card range. Available online and in Oxfam shops across the island of Ireland, these beautiful printed or electronic cards start at just €10/£7 and support a wide range of life-changing projects.

New additions for 2018 are Two Little Pigs (€40/£35), A Cow (€50/£46), or The Road to an Education (€65/£55). Every gift in the Unwrapped range helps to create a brighter, happier future for people living in severe poverty – from supporting people who depend on animals for their livelihoods and helping people get the education and training they need to thrive to ensuring people caught up in emergencies have essentials like clean water. To see Oxfam’s full range of Unwrapped gifts, visit oxfamireland.org/unwrapped.

Meanwhile, in Oxfam shops nationwide, a host of Fair Trade and ethically-sourced gifts cater for all your Christmas essentials. There are brand new stocking fillers from €1.50/£1.20 like chocolate coins, mulled wine and spiced cider, retro games and novelty socks plus cards and gift-wrap paper.

All of the quality food treats in-store are Fair Trade, so whether you choose from the new offerings of the Double Chocolate and Raspberry Shortbread (€5/£3.99), Beer Bread (choose from Chilli & Garlic or Olive & Rosemary, both €6/£4.99) or the Trio Sauce Set (Peri Peri chili sauce, Baobab spicy relish and Safari BBQ – €15/£12.99), these thoughtful present ideas will be sure to delight your foodie friends.

Staying with food, Sally Butcher’s book Veggiestan (€20/£15.99) is a vegetable lover’s tour of the Middle East, while other reads include Cath Tate’s hilarious Christmas: The Season To Be Jolly (€7/£5.99), which pairs vintage photos with witty captions.

Among the quirky new additions to Oxfam’s gift range for the home are the Recycled Tyre Picture Frame (€10/£7.99), colourful ceramic tile hooks (€4/£2.99), and a ‘nosey’ spectacles holder (€10/£7.99).

New gifts for her include a Hand-made Embroidered Purse (€6/£4.99), a Hand-made Embroidered Pouch (€9/£6.99), 2019 Family Organisers (€10/£7.99) by either Ailsa Black or Clare Wilson, or how about some Belgian Pralines (€10/£8.49)?

New gifts for him include a fascinating spotters guide book on the world’s top Film and TV Locations (€7/£5.99); and if that involves some travels then he will also appreciate the gift of a Hand-made Paisley Washbag (€9/£6.99).

Younger children will love reading Hoot (€7/£5.99), a ‘hole-some book of counting’, while there are new additions to the Matchbox Trivia Games and Puzzles for kids of all ages (€5/£3.99).

Whatever you buy from Oxfam’s Christmas range, you’ll be supporting their work worldwide, helping to change lives for good through their long-term development work, emergency response and campaigning to tackle the root causes of poverty and injustice.

In order to beat poverty for good we need to change the rules that allow corporations to dodge paying their fair share of tax.

Currently, the global tax system drives inequality by allowing some companies to legally avoid paying tax. Meanwhile, it is the poor – who are landed with higher tax bills and inadequate public services – that pay the price.

Over the past two years, with the support of people across the island of Ireland, we’ve been campaigning to increase tax transparency by introducing public Country by Country Reporting, or pCBCR in the EU. If pCBCR was implemented, corporations would have to publish where they make profits and pay taxes - and this would make it much easier to lift the lid on tax dodging in the EU.

Right now, we need to remind our government to support pCBCR and real corporate tax transparency.

Will you help us?

Together, we want to make as much noise as possible – please join us by tweeting the Minister for Finance @Paschald and the Minister of State @PatBreen1 to let them know we are serious about fighting the inequality caused by tax dodging and beating poverty for good.

An Oxfam program supplies female farmers with the tools to manage their crops and to redistribute power in their households.

“When our leaders told us that Oxfam was coming to train us to use oxen to plow our fields, we protested,” says Lucia, a farmer from Wau County, South Sudan. “Our tribe does not know cows and even so, it is a man’s work to train them and lead them through the fields. This is not for us women at all!”

Yet, 12 months later, she’s changed her tune. Lucia grins from ear to ear as she shows off Malual—the young bull that tills her land. Women in Lucia’s community—as in most parts of South Sudan—typically shoulder a huge workload. They do all the domestic work and much of the agricultural tasks. For many, this means waking up early to collect water, light a fire, make tea, and cook lunch, all before heading to a small plot of land to cultivate crops.

Farming often takes from morning to evening, and even then, doesn't always provide enough food to feed the family. This was Lucia’s experience until last year.

That’s where Malual come in.

Traditionally, people in Lucia's community use malodas—small tools with a sickle-shaped head—to till the land, but because the tools are so small, it takes a long time to work the land. Using oxen and employing techniques like planting in rows means women can cultivate much larger plots of land in less time.

“I am growing sorghum, okra, and peanuts, and I have been able to increase the size of the land I plow from half a fedan [half an acre] to more than two fedans [two acres],” she says. “Some of the food I eat as soon as I harvest; some I save for the lean season to eat or to sell. I’m also saving some for planting later this year.”

In the past, Lucia and her family skipped lunch because they only had enough food to stretch between breakfast and dinner. “My children are much happier and I can see they are looking well,” she says.

Lucia is earning enough money to pay some bills, and the time she's saved using oxen is going into a side business selling cakes—all of which has earned her the deep respect of her husband.

As part of the same project, she and her husband took part in workshops focused on women’s rights. “Now he respects me so much more,” she says with a grin. “The way we are together is completely different. Now we share all the tasks in the household. He is cleaning more, mopping, bringing water, and washing clothes. I am able to rest a bit more now.”

Creating a more just and effective system of humanitarian response means helping local and national organizations step to the forefront.

When armed fighters laid siege to the city of Marawi, the Philippines, in 2017, hundreds of thousands of civilians fled for their lives. Many abandoned everything they owned, and in the clashes that followed, their neighborhoods were reduced to rubble and dust.

It’s been many months since the exodus, but for people displaced by the fighting, the pain is fresh. When a visitor toured the camps near Marawi, they told stories of their flight and of the precious things they left behind.

“All my memories were left there,” said a young mother who recently delivered a baby in a tent camp. She cried as she talked about leaving home. “My parents were buried there.”

Yet, even as they rushed to safety, some took on a dangerous, life-saving task. “Many Muslims worked hard to protect their Christian friends and neighbors. They gave them places to hide and helped them get through checkpoints so they could escape the city,” said another mother. “For us,” she added, “it’s all the same if people are Muslim or Christian.”

Giving a boost to local groups

In a crisis, the urge to help your neighbor and your community is a powerful one, which is one reason local aid agencies can be so effective in emergencies. Not only are they often deeply committed to the communities they serve—their proximity enables them to act fast, and their understanding of the context can facilitate aid delivery in countless ways. But NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) in poor countries struggle for resources, and the grants they receive from international sources often consign them to bit parts in emergencies, with little role in shaping the work they’re paid to carry out.

That’s wrong in every way, and Oxfam is trying to address the problem. We are helping lead a worldwide initiative to shift power, skills, and funds from international to strong local and national actors, and the Philippines has been a particular focus.

In 2015, Oxfam began working with Christian Aid and Tearfund on a three-year pilot project known as Financial Enablers, or FEP, to help Filipino organizations (organized into seven consortia) boost their capacity for humanitarian response and preparedness. The goal was more far-reaching than simply to build on skills: it was to strengthen leadership, so participants were encouraged to take charge from the start. Each consortium took on the responsibility of devising its own capacity-strengthening plan, for example, and the FEP followed its lead, issuing grants to make that plan a reality. Less experienced consortia used the money for basic trainings in emergency response, while a more seasoned group known as the Humanitarian Response Consortium (HRC) used it to create a quick-response fund, and to stock three warehouses with equipment and supplies.

A legal aid clinic near Marawi. “People who have lost everything have also lost their legal identities… They can’t access benefits they need, and they can be targeted with harassment and even violence.”-- Norman Golong of IDEALS, HRC’s legal aid organization and an Oxfam partner. Photo: Elizabeth Stevens/Oxfam

An important milestone

As Oxfam readied its response to the Marawi crisis, the HRC announced it was launching a needs assessment—the critical first step in humanitarian response—and asked if Oxfam would like to support its intervention. In the effort to strengthen local leadership, it was a milestone: rather than Oxfam asking local groups to participate in our response, a highly capable local organization was taking the lead and inviting Oxfam to join in.

“In the space of six months, HRC twice led the way on emergency response,” said Rhoda Avila, Oxfam’s humanitarian manager in the Philippines. “This represents a significant transition, and we are really pleased.”

With help from its quick-response fund, HRC immediately canvassed the displaced families and learned about their most pressing needs. Once the team had solid information, it was able to cast a wider net for resources, and before long they had distributed essentials like plywood for tent flooring, hygiene kits, and kitchen utensils; set up communal kitchens and water and sanitation facilities; and begun handling sewage sludge disposal. HRC includes a legal aid organization, which hosted a radio show during the emergency to educate people about their rights, and offered clinics to help displaced people secure identification papers.

“HRC was a great help,” said Noraisah Arumpac, a mother who now lives in a tent camp. “They went from tent to tent to talk to us. They gave us everything we needed and made our lives easier.”

The consortium was not only able to move fast and create a comprehensive response; thanks to local staffers, its work built on knowledge of the local culture.

“I’m from Mindanao, so I understand some of the traditions and culture of the communities we’re serving, and I share their religion,” said Zahara Ibrahim, a hygiene promoter for HRC in the camps outside Marawi. “I find that people are more interested in talking about hygiene if I introduce it by reading verses from the Koran about cleanliness.”

Ivanhoe Arcilla, emergencies official in the town of Virac, Catanduanes, worked with HRC on the response to a deadly typhoon in 2016. “When HRC came, it was so timely. They showed up right after the typhoon. They called me and the next day they were here, and they immediately began an assessment and distributions.” Photo: Elizabeth Stevens/Oxfam

“The vision of the FEP is of strong, confident local organizations that work together to carry out effective disaster preparedness and response,” said project manager Jane Bañez-Ockelford, reflecting on the project before it drew to a close at the end of March.

Clearly, the vision has taken hold, and we’re hopeful that the knowledge and networks the FEP helped generate will continue to deepen and grow.

“The traditional way of implementing disaster response in the past has been that people from the outside controlled decisions and controlled the resources. Local communities affected by disasters were involved only marginally in decision-making,” said Milton Amayun, who works with the FEP-supported CHIC consortium (Capacity-building for Humanitarian Initiatives in Capiz). “What the FEP has done is shift decision-making to the local organizations they supported and the leadership of the communities. The results so far have been timely, culturally appropriate responses at very little cost.”

“When it comes to humanitarian response,” he added with a smile, “local leaders can do the job.”

A water community group meeting in Allan, Salt. Photo: Alixandra Buck / Oxfam

In Jordan, it is not common for government and citizens to talk face to face on issues of common concern. There is also skepticism on the role of civil society. (Chatham House).

Together with the Water Authority of Jordan, a group of people in Salt govornorate, Jordan are working to change that.

Abir Suleiman Mrooj, Buthaina Al-Zubi, and Majde Algharagher are three of the twelve men and women who comprise a water community group in the town of Allan, Salt. Now, people of Salt can collaborate freely with government officials, air their grievances, and work together to improve water access and governance in their community.

Rapid population growth, a mountainous landscape and neglect have frequently left people in Allan with insufficient access to water. Community members, including Mrooj and Al-Zubi, highlighted the issues to Algharagher, the Water Authority’s Director of Salt District. In turn he was able to convince the Water Authority to respond with extensive improvements to the local water network, valued at over 150,000 JOD (Approx. 210,000 USD). Now, leakages in Allan have gone down significantly - and further improvements are expected to reduce losses even more.

This is of particular importance in Jordan, one of the most water-scarce countries in the world. Water use far exceeds the replacement rate, and leaks, breakages and interrupted water supply are all too common - pointing to the need for systemic changes to water infrastructure, water governance and water use patterns.

Majde Algharagher was quick to recognize the issues: “There has been a huge increase in population in Jordan, so there is less water available per person,” he told Oxfam. “We are also seeing illegal pumping, which is making water even scarcer.”

Over 40% of water in Jordan’s network is lost through leakages and other losses [USAiD].

Majde Algharagher, the Director of Salt District for the Water Authority of Jordan, speaks with community members. Photo: Alixandra Buck/Oxfam

Abir Suleiman Mrooj, of Allan, told Oxfam, “The sight of wasted water all over the streets used to hurt us, as we were working so hard to save water in our homes... So at first, we were like a beehive around Mr Algharagher – always pushing until we got a solution to each issue.”

Collaborating with the community has made it easier for the Water Authority to find and stop water losses. According to Algharagher, “Now that I am in the water group, people can contact me directly by phone. Before they had to come to the office or call the ministry and it would be a long process to speak to me. We also have a Whatsapp group, so they can send me a picture of a broken pipe or any problem, and I can respond. I can immediately send maintenance staff, and they can fix it. The response is easier and faster than before.”

Mrooj told Oxfam, “We housewives were able to achieve something for our community. The Water Authority heard my voice, and through me, the voices of many people in Jordan. We feel so proud that we could impact our community and the government.” But things are still not perfect: “Now, my water is good. But honestly, other places still struggle.”

Abir Suleiman Mrooj, a water Ambassador from Salt, Jordan, is a leader in her community. Photo Alixandra Buck/Oxfam

With the support of Global Affairs Canada, Oxfam is working with community members, partners, and the Government of Jordan to improve water governance. We want to ensure that more people in the country can meet their basic water needs and participate in decision-making at the community and national level.